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Sunday, March 9, 2014

March 8th was International Women’s Day. I
celebrated by surrounding myself with brilliant, strong courageous women
who inspire me. From morning till night, I was in the company of
estrogen-laced greatness. Yes I was giddy and uplifted by the love,
encouragement, and beauty of these women. All day my facebook buddies
were toutinghow happy and PROUD they were to be women. Yay for us! I got caught up in it. You could say it was intoxicating.

And then comes the morning after, also known as… the hangover. And with it, the sober thoughts.

Yes, I love being a woman. Sometimes. And sometimes it just plain sucks.

How
could I say such a thing? Because although I believe in the power of
positive thinking, I don’t want to be in denial about the hard truths.
If we don’t acknowledge them, we can not change them.

So here is my list of womanly things that SUCK:

It sucks ….

That my son asked me the other day if it was really true that women are paid less than men and I still couldn't say, "No, honey. That was in the olden days."

That we are still fighting for control over our own reproductive rights.

That I’ve had to look over my shoulder
all my life walking to my car or getting in an elevator because one in
six US women are rape victims.

That my daughter has to carry pepper spray.

That women in so many parts of the world
aren’t free, don’t have rights, are chased by the virtue police, have
to wear burqas, are stoned to death for minor infractions that men get
away with every day.

That one in four women are victims of domestic violence. That every 16 hours, an American woman is shot and killed by her partner.That only 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. That the US is ranked 104th in women's representation in government.

Oh yeah….and since I’m feeling cranky, these things suck too:

That women are expected to be eternally thin and eternally young.

The various woman-specific cancers for which research is under-funded.

Bras and high heels.

Okay I’m ranting. I’ll stop.

I’m just saying it’s not all it’s cracked
up to be. We have to be better, fight harder, strive more than our
counterparts. Here in the US, opportunity abounds and I can pursue any
dream I want, but I’m still looking over my shoulder every time a new
bill threatens my freedoms, every time a stranger walks behind me, every
time I turn on the news and hear yet another report of a missing woman
who happens to have a really suspicious creepy boyfriend, and I can
never forget that women around the world are still oppressed.

Ever since Eve took the rap in Genesis, on
some level we’ve been cowering, apologizing for our gender. We bought
the lie, and forgot who we really
are. I mean…think about it. We CREATE LIFE in our wombs! We are capable
of connecting with others at deep soul levels. Our intuition is
astounding. But in many ways we are still in that victim role. We
haven’t yet stepped into our full power.

So yes, let’s celebrate, but not because
the struggle is over. Let’s celebrate all that is good, the progress
we’ve made, and the road ahead that we have yet to walk together. Let's
celebrate our awakening.

I am proud to
be a woman, proud of all we’ve come through and survived, proud to
carry the suffragette spirit in my veins, proud of all the women I am
honored to call my friends. And I will be proud to continue to stand up
for women, everywhere, until we are equal, free, and safe all around the
world.